New Martyr 20th century

New Hieromartyr Dmitry Troitsky

1884 – 1937

Also known as Dmitry Troitsky, Deacon

A deacon martyred in the Soviet persecution (1937)

Feast Day
September 9
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Commemorated as

The Holy New Martyr Dmitry Troitsky, Deacon

Life

Dmitry Troitsky was a deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church who was executed during the Soviet persecution of the Church in 1937. He is numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, and is also commemorated among the new martyrs who suffered at the Butovo firing range near Moscow. His liturgical commemoration falls on September 9.

According to his biography, he was born in 1884 in the village of Maksheevo, in the Egoryevsk (Kolomna) district of Moscow province, into the family of a deacon. He completed the Kolomna Theological Seminary in 1901 and served as a psalm-reader at the Church of the Transfiguration in the village of Pochinki, where he was ordained deacon in 1924.

From 1930 onward he was repeatedly arrested under the anti-religious campaigns of the period. He was first sentenced to exile for failing to meet state grain quotas, and again in 1933 on a charge of counter-revolutionary agitation, which he denied. After returning from exile he resumed his service until his final arrest in September 1937. He was sentenced to death by an NKVD troika and shot at the Butovo polygon on September 21, 1937, and buried in an unmarked common grave. He was glorified among the New Martyrs by the Jubilee Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.

Timeline 7 moments Read Hide
  1. 1884 Born at Maksheevo Born in the village of Maksheevo in the Egoryevsk (Kolomna) district of Moscow province, into the family of a deacon.
  2. 1901 Completed Kolomna Seminary Finished the Kolomna Theological Seminary and entered church service as a psalm-reader at the Transfiguration Church in Pochinki.
  3. 1924 Ordained deacon Ordained to the diaconate at the Church of the Transfiguration in Pochinki.
  4. 1930 First arrest and exile Sentenced to exile for failing to meet state grain quotas; continued serving as a deacon while exiled.
  5. 1933 Second arrest and exile to Kazakhstan Arrested in January and, in May, sentenced by an OGPU troika to three years' exile in Kazakhstan on a charge of agitation.
  6. 1937 Final arrest and martyrdom Arrested September 6, sentenced to death September 19, and shot at the Butovo polygon on September 21.
  7. 2000 Glorified Numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the Jubilee Bishops' Council.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Ministry and Arrests

After completing the Kolomna Theological Seminary, Troitsky served as a psalm-reader at the Church of the Transfiguration in Pochinki, in the Egoryevsk district, and was ordained to the diaconate there in 1924. His biography records three successive arrests as the Soviet state intensified its pressure on parish clergy.

He was first arrested in 1930 and sentenced to a period of exile beyond the region for failing to deliver grain quotas; he continued to serve as a deacon during this exile. After returning he resumed his ministry at Pochinki, but in January 1933 he was arrested again and, in May 1933, sentenced by an OGPU troika to three years' exile in Kazakhstan on a charge of agitation, which he did not admit. Returning around 1936, he lived in the church watchman's lodge after his own home was confiscated.

Martyrdom and Glorification

Deacon Dmitry was arrested for the last time on September 6, 1937, accused of counter-revolutionary agitation. On September 19 an NKVD troika sentenced him to death, and he was shot at the Butovo polygon near Moscow on September 21, 1937 — the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos — and buried in an unmarked mass grave.

He was glorified among the host of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the Jubilee Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in the year 2000.

Commemorated with Read Hide
Notes

Among the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Sources: Synaxarion